I'm playing the original Duke Nukem at the moment. One thing about it that I'm really liking is the lack of bottomless pits - something I really detest about platformers; I really do not enjoy being punished more than usual for a single mistake.

This seems to be a rarity; so can anyone point me towards some other platformers that don't have any bottomless pits (I suppose Braid-like time-rewinding is ok too)?

VVVVVV. Well, there is one, but it loops so it's okay. You'll die a lot during your first playthrough, but there are so many checkpoints it doesn't feel unfair.

I haven't encountered any bottomless pits in cave story so far.

there are, but only quite close to the end... you might also try knytt stories, I don't think you can fall to die there (you can fall a lot, but you'll only get to a lower levels without dying)

there kind of is when you get outside.

puzzle platformers? for example Shift?

lucky you... what would I give to get to play it again for the first time! :)

the time I've entered that area and heard this music..... best chiptune in the history of men!!!

What a great idea for a thread! I love this forum.

The original Metroid didn't have any, did it? And does it count as bottomless if you know what is there but you don't actually see it? Duke Nukem MP has falling off the screen to your death all of the time and I think it is to be taken for granted that you slam into the streets below; at least that what happens to most people when they fall off sky scrapers.

I don't remember any bottomless pits in Treasure Adventure Game and in Poacher.

Both are freeware and very good games.

can't you fall into the ocean and drown? I don't remember now...

La-Mulana, with the exception of exactly one bottomless bit. That one is a bit special though, because it is the staging grounds of the boss called Viy, and a certain trip into Hell. Aside from that, the nature of La-Mulana's pits are the kind that have you climbing back up to where you dropped, since you want to reach a treasure or solve puzzles.

On the topic of the Metroid platformers, I don't think there are any bottomless ones for the 2D games, but the Metroid Prime series does have bottomless pits that damage you, similar to the Zelda games.

The Paper Mario and other RPGs in the Mario-verse have some platforming mechanics, but no bottomless pits from what I can recall.

Unepic?

In Tresure Adventure Game? No, you can't. everytime you hit the ocean, the boat automatically unfolds and you start sailing. Later in the game you also have a diving suit and you can't drown with that.

I think it might be able to drown in Poacher, but afair you can swim and doesn't automatically die once you hit the ocean. So I wouldn't consider it a bottomless pit. But I might remember wrong.

Pitfall 2 (Atari) has a bottomless pit but it is ACTUALLY bottomless. If you fall you never stop dropping and you never die, no kidding. Put the controller down, go out, grab a bite, come back and you will still be falling. It actually always frustrated me because I've heard there is a technique to angle your drop so that you get to a platform but I've never been able to pull that off.